Rottnest Fast Ferries

Choosing the Best Ferry to Journey to Rottnest Island

The small, coastal island of Rottnest is situated due east of Perth and is one of the last few remaining protected islands in the world. Without an airport, the only way to get to and from Rottnest Island is by boat or ferry – with several agencies offering the latter type of transportation service. Choosing the best ferry to journey to Rottnest Island can be fairly simple; especially if you’re able to dedicate a bit of time to your search.

The guide below should also provide a little further information on one particular service provider; namely Rottnest Express.

Getting to the island

There is currently one central port on Rottnest and it can be found in Thomson Bay. Due to its ideal depths and the proximity to the nearby Bathurst Lighthouse, the local council identified the size and shape of the port and recognised its virtues way back in the late 1800s. Just a couple of decades ago, the region was converted to allow for transportation, trading and visiting vessels to dock securely.

As a result, the only way on and off of the island is by sea. With ferry services always on hand to travel between the Perth coastline and the small island however, getting to and from can be fairly straight forward. In order to choose the best service to travel, the most ideal place to start is with a quick Google search.

Something along the lines of ‘Rottnest ferry’ or ‘Rottnest Island ferry’ should offer the most relevant results – and the closer those results are to the top of the page, the more likely that they will be suitable for your needs. For those of you that prefer to compare your options, you’ll notice that there are several agencies offering ferry services in the region.

One of the most popular is the Express and this one has also been in action for the most substantial amount of time. With services running from the North Port Rous Head terminal to Thomson Bay on a daily basis, booking a trip can be very simple – and their prices are also some of the lowest, too. When comparing different services, there are several main things to consider before attempting to reach a decision.

Does the service have a track record of reliability? If so, how did you reach this conclusion? Third party review websites are a good place to search, as these types of feedback will often be unbiased and fair

What are the prices like? Sometimes it can be more beneficial to pay a little extra and receive a higher quality service

Do the services stop at just transportation? Those of you that wish to visit Rottnest may also want to enjoy a spot of whale watching – a good ferry service should also consider offering this feature, too